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Early map showing the River Foyle flowing around the island of Derry and creating the Bog to the west of the walled city.

The Bogside

The area now known as the Bogside was originally underwater. The Foyle flowed round the island of Derry, and was first settled as the river diverted. It dried out into marshland: hence the name Bogside.

The first known reference to it by name came in a report from Sir Henry Docwra, the commander of an English force who arrived in Derry in 1600.

The first recorded settlers in the Bogside were 61 “British families” listed in a 1622 survey. This survey would have ignored any Irish inhabitants. Literally, they didn’t count.

From the beginning, the relationship between the Bogside and the walled city was antagonistic. When the English settlement was attacked and destroyed by Donegal chieftain Cahir O’Doherty in 1608, the attackers came through the bog. During the siege of 1688-89, many of the attacking forces were based in what is now the Bogside, Brandywell and Creggan – the area that was to become Free Derry.

About the Museum of Free Derry

The Museum of Free Derry tells the story of how a largely working class community rose up against the years of oppression it had endured. The museum and archive has become an integral part of Ireland’s radical and civil rights heritage.

The museum also tells the story of Bloody Sunday, the day when the British Army committed mass murder on the streets of the Bogside. It tells the story of how the people of Derry, led by the families of the victims, overcame the injustice and wrote a new chapter in the history of civil rights, which has become a source of international inspiration.

The museum is a public space where the concept of Free Derry can be explored in both historic and contemporary contexts. Free Derry is about our future together as much as it is about the past. The struggle of Free Derry is part of a wider struggle in Ireland and internationally for freedom and equality for all.